Our meal last night at the White Buffalo Club Restaurant was exceptional. I had  the Venison Tenderloin Medallions with garlic mash, baby carrots, New Orleans butter sauce and chives. I think it was probably the best Venison I have ever eaten and believe me, I’ve eaten a lot! The New Orleans butter sauce nearly blew my head off! 😂

Si had the 14oz Ribeye with Bearnaise sauce, garlic mash and asparagus. He said it was excellent and even managed to eat most of it!

Si’s Ribeye

Garlic mash and aspargus

To go with my meal I had a Strawberry Feels cocktail made up of Grand Teton Vodka/Strawberry Simple/Balsamic Vinegar and fresh lime juice – it was fabulous! Si had a glass of Merlot.

Strawberry Feels cocktail

The Merlot

To quote from their own website: “The restaurant features old Chicago style décor incorporating large angled mirrors, fine gallery art, wood floors, custom hand-crafted Douglas Fir table tops, and cozy banquettes.Our granite 3-sided bar centres the dining room and allows for a social, yet sophisticated environment. Whether here for a romantic evening, entertaining clients or sharing a few drinks with friends, The Restaurant at White Buffalo Club has everything you need for a memorable experience”.

The restaurant is listed as ‘Fine Dining’ and from a food point of view that’s true, the food being faultless. However, that term usually relates to more than just the food but to the staff as well. Our waiter, Cody, was fantastic. He was friendly and attentive. However, if we are attending a ‘Fine Dining’ establishment we do not expect to be greeted by and seated by, in this case, young women, the oldest of which looked all of 14 years old, wearing cut jeans and cropped tops and who stood by the rostrum giggling the whole time! They were very friendly but in our opinion, in the wrong setting.

If we are expected to dress appropriately for ‘Fine Dining’ then I think it’s only fair for everyone to do likewise, don’t you agree or are we are just getting old and grumpy with unrealistic expectations in the 21st Century!!? 😔

So, little gripe over, 😬let’s get on with today!

We were up and out just after 5.00 a.m. and it was literally, freezing. ❄️The temperature was 32 degrees Fahrenheit!

Freezing!

There was a red sky and so made for a beautiful sunrise.

The Photographer’s Assistant’s Sunrise Shot

We decided to make our way to Schwabacher Landing for the event and when we arrived there were a few other photographers and their assistants but it was by no means crowded. I was surprised though at how many other ‘Photographer’s Assistants’ had come along this morning. Perhaps we should form a club! 🤔

The Photographer’s Assistant’s Sunrise over Grand Teton

The Photographer’s Assistant’s video of the sunrise over the Tetons this morning.

Now for the real photographer’s shots!

Sunrise at the Grand Tetons

Sunrise Panorama

For breakfast, we went to the Pioneer Grill at Jackson Lake Lodge. It was very cute, just like being in a big diner where everyone sits at the counter. Great food and lovely hot drinks. Just the thing after being out in the cold.

The Pioneer Grill

Si at Breakfast

 

The Grand Tetons

Sand by the lake looking cold!

Here in the Tetons there are bears of course and two in particular that people like to try and see. The two are called Grizzly 399 and Blondie (because she’s a much lighter brown). Grizzly 399 (born 1996) is the most famous brown bear mother in the world, with her own Facebook and Twitter accounts. We have yet to see her.

Blondie, is with her three yearling cubs, thought by most to be her first offspring. Many bear enthusiasts thought Blondie might have met a terrible fate as she didn’t appear at all last year. Now, in hindsight, they think she was raising her new cubs away from the busy roads and bear filled meadows that she usually frequents.

When Si spoke to Steve Mattheis on Sunday he told us where the two bears had been sighted. So, after breakfast we set off in search of Blondie and as is usually the case, not expecting to find her but today turned out to be our lucky day! As we drove along a dirt track a car flagged us down and said that Blondie and her three cubs were up ahead walking in the road! 👏

Mum Blondie

You can imagine our excitement as we sped along as fast as we could on an unmade road. Thanks goodness we are driving a tank! When we arrived she had moved from the road into the meadow but was as close as we had ever been to a bear. Of course, Health and Safety being always first in our minds, we did have the bear spray with us!

There were a couple of other groups enjoying the experience too. By the time we left word had spread amongst the photographic community and cars were pouring in. Sadly for them, the little bear family had moved further into the woods and had settled down for a snooze. 😴

Blondie and her cubs

Isn’t it strange that bear cubs always look so adorable and playful and you just want to pick them up and take them home but give them six months and they would be trying to rip you apart! 😱

Mum and Cubs

Blondie’s Cubs

Blondie and Cubs

By now it’s after 10.00 a.m. and we are feeling a little weary but decide to try one more time to see if we can see early animals out and about, but apart from lots of blue birds eating gnats on the wing, we didn’t see any.

We still need to find a moose and see buffalo up close. We’ve seen a couple of buffalo herds way off in the distance but too far away to photograph.

Tonight we are going back to Jackson Lake Lodge to eat in the Mural Room. The restaurant has huge windows with views out over the Grand Tetons that are just magnificent.

The hotel is currently undergoing renovations and this morning they had started to remove the scaffolding. Fingers crossed it’s all been removed by the time we arrive.🤞We don’t want the most magnificent view in the world spoilt by scaffolding!!

Thanks once again for joining us on our journey. More tomorrow!